Rust repair

[daveeeeee]

im sarting to clean my micra up and there's some rust damage round the wheel arches etc, now i have a good idea on how to do it but as i'm a complete beginer i just want to be sure, so if anyone could just give me a run down on how to do it and what sand paper to use body filler etc or if there's any good websites you know of that could help. it would be greatly appreiciated.

 

[Burfy]

I guess it depends on how much body is actually missing... Body filler is usually good for small holes or dents, but if a whole chunk is missing (which was my case) I had to completely reconstruct it with fibre-glass.. after that you can smooth it out with body filler if you wish... I'm no professional, but I'd say that's a good start!

 

[Alienfish360]

if it's bad you need to cut away the rust including some healthy panel around the affected area. And weld a panel back in

 

[daveeeeee]

its not bad, theres no rust that has actualy rusted all the way through the bodywork, so i think only some body filler will be needed. is it just a case of sanding all the rust away, using body filler to replace the badywork and spraying?

 

[Burfy]

Make sure you sand or grind the place so that there isn't a SPECK of rust.. If there is still rust there, it will multiply underneath your hard work and in 6 months you'll be like "what happened to the car?!" Otherwise, make sure your body filler is smooth and even with the rest of your car then you're good to go with painting whatever way you want! I'm guilty of laying too much body filler and now it's cracked I had a hole the size of jesus in my door and I just pumped it full of goo lol... So once it stops raining here I'm just going to rip off the door take a hammer to the body filler, and lay some fibreglass.. If there's too much area to cover with just f.g. then I'll do what Alien said and weld some more tin in there..

 

[daveeeeee]

well i've been thinking of just getting the whole car resprayed, how much do you think this will cost, same colour exterior only? what if i repair the rust damage first will it then be cheaper to get it sprayed?

 

[Burfy]

I'm not sure about cheaper, but it would be a smart idea lol... Honestly, buy a gallon of rust inhibitor paint, a foam roller and go nuts.... Lightly sand in-between each coat and it'll look nice.. Plus it'll cost you next to nothing compared to a professional re-spray!

 

[daveeeeee]

yeh but i'm worried that if i paint it mi self it wont look good, is it that difficult?

 

[Burfy]

Trust me, it really isn't that hard lol... I did damn good for my first time.. The only thing I screwed up on was I didn't give it a light sanding in between each coat, so I got a slight bit of orange peel effect. Either way, Tremclad (rust paint) painter's tape (for the windows and lights) and a FOAM roller (not one that has lint in it), some light grit sand paper and you'll make out quite nicely. For the age of the car, don't bother spending that much money for a "professional" job.

Before:
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/Burfoot/My%20Car/?action=view&current=IMGP3006edit.jpg

After:
http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/Burfoot/My%20Car/?action=view&current=IMGP3088.jpg

 

[Turtle]

Man those are cool headlights burfy.

Care to give us another picture?

 

[daveeeeee]

got some pics well after giving it a good clean i see that it doesnt need a profesional job. its not bad actualy, just the rusted parts need doin.

the car
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/daveeeeee_photo/SP_A0063_000.jpg

rust
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t303/daveeeeee_photo/Photo-0135_000.jpg

this what the rust is like on two of the wheel arches. some on the door aswell but not as bad

 

[Burfy]

Oh pfft... That's pitiful hahaha.. You got off easy... I had to redo my entire driver door :doh: Just take some course grit sand paper and take it right down to the metal, make sure there's NO sign of rust (eliminate the pits too), prime the area and paint it... Even if you don't do a great job it's such a small spot it won't even matter!

If you wanna see how I did my paint job just cruise around my album

http://s22.photobucket.com/albums/b316/Burfoot/My%20Car/

or check out my CarDomain page:

http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2539758

 

[daveeeeee]

lol yeh suppose its not really much to fuss about lol needs sorting tho better to get it early, could i just give it a coat of lacker? the paints fine but it lacks that "new car" look, it doesnt gleam if you no what i mean.

 

[Charlotte001]

Easy repair as previously said take it to bare metal around 2-4inch around the rust then simply either fill the holes or if you really want use a repair panel then have it welded in. by the looks of it you've lost the top coat of steel. You could always take it to bare metal to see how bad the rust is if no holes then stick some rust inhibitor on it like Genolite (be very carefull to make sure theres no rust left as this will eat it) or a paint based one the repaint the patch.